Jesus & Salvation By Faith ALONE

[adisciplinedlearner]

According to Jesus, confessing Him before men is essential to final salvation.

Matthew 10
[32] Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
[33] But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

This proves that salvation is not by faith ALONE.

 

[Dr. Walter]

According to Jesus, confessing Him before men is essential to final salvation.

Matthew 10
[32] Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
[33] But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

This proves that salvation is not by faith ALONE.

Romans 10:8 associates this confession with initial faith in the gospel. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith - Heb. 12:2. Confessing Christ as Savior is not a work but the assertion of a reality already concluded.

 

[Andre]

What you are failing to see, in fact, tripping over it blindly, is that Romans 4:1-25 is the Pauline exposition of what justification by faith is and is not. This chapter is designed to be a systematic treatment of the doctrine of justification by faith and what it is versus what it is not.

No. There is scads of evidence that, while justification by faith is indeed a vital theme here, another issue is also of great concern to Paul: that the "true" family of God is not limited to Jews. Look at how much of the argument from the end of 3 through to the middle of chapter 4 (rendered in bold below) is concerned with arguing that God's purposes include both Jew and Gentile:

Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. 29Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. 1What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? 2If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."[a]

4Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. 6David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7"Blessed are they
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
8Blessed is the man
whose sin the Lord will never count against him."[b]
9Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
13It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, 15because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. 16Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations."

Yes, Paul is dealing with justification by faith. But he is also centrally concerned with making a case that justification is not for Jews only.

And that is why his verse 2 assertion that justification is not attained by "works" has to be read as a claim that no Jew can be justified by doing the works of the Law of Moses. It is not a claim that "good works" do not justify.

If it were, he would be contradicting what he write in Romans 2 and Romans 8.

 

[Andre]

Andre, you have an excellent understanding of the New Testament and of the book of Romans.

Thanks for your kind words (and for reading my posts).

 

[Chowmah]

Howdy all. Tis a wonderful day of rest sanctified by the Lord. “Many” have come in the name of Christ and have preached that there is nothing you must do to reach the Kingdom of God but claim you believe in Christ. They claim grace is a free gift and theres nothing you must do in order to receive this gift that gives you the right to enter the kingdom. Very smooth things preached indeed. But…What do the scriptures say?

MATTHEW 3 [1] In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, [2] And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. [3] For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

John the Baptist said You must 1st repent

MATTHEW 4 [16] The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. [17] From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Jesus says you must first repent

MARK 1 [14] Now after that John was put in prison, JESUS CAME INTO GALILEE, PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, [15] And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: REPENT YE, AND BELIEVE the gospel., [15] And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Jesus says repent and believe. There are those who claim they believe and yet have not repented. Do they have the spirit of unbelief? So what are we to repent of before we can believe the good news of the kingdom? Sin of course. We are 1st to repent of sin. What is sin according to the new covenant scriptures?

1 JOHN 3 [4] Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Yup. Same as the old.

JOHN 3 [5] Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of WATER and of the SPIRIT, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

MATTHEW 3 [11] I indeed baptize you with WATER UNTO REPENTANCE: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with THE HOLY GHOST, and with fire:

Once again, you will not enter the kingdom unless you 1st repent of your sins and then receive the Holy Spirit. There is something you must do to receive the free gift of grace. Yeah, we must repent of sin and keep Gods 10 commandments

ACTS 2 [36] Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. [37] Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? [38] Then Peter said unto them, REPENT, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, AND YE SHALL RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST.

 

[Andre]

I want to say something further in respect to Romans 4. As you will know, I believe that when Paul writes that Abraham was not justified by "works", I believe that the "works" that are referred to are not "good works" in the general sense but are rather the works of the Law of Moses which, of course, can only be done by those to whom the Law of Moses was given. That is, the Jews.

In this and other threads, I am challenged with the argument that "verse 2 cannot be a reference to the works of the Law of Moses" since the Law of Moses was only given hundreds of years after Abraham.

This objection entirely misses the point of my argument, although this is perhaps understandable given that I may not have clearly spelled things out. I will try to respond more fully to this objection in the present post.

The irony is that the fact that Abraham lived before the giving of the Law of Moses is precisely why Paul can make the argument that he is making - that justification is not limited to Jews, that is, those who do the works of the Law of Moses.

Paul's argument is basically this:

1. As per the end of chapter 3, justification is not limited to Jews: Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,.

2. Well, what about Abraham? (4:1) Well, Abraham was not justified by the works of the Law of Moses (4:2).

3. How do we know this? Abraham was justified before He was even circumcized (4:10). Since circumcision is probably the most identifiable mark that sets the Jew apart from the Gentile, Abraham was not justified in virtue of his being Jewish.

4. And since the Law of Moses only came after circumcision, it would be impossible for Abraham to be justified by that Law, since it was not even in force at Abraham's time.

5. Therefore, since Abraham was not justified by doing the works of the Law of Moses, no Jew should think that he, in turn, think that he can be justified by doing the works of the Law of Moses.

The irony is that the very thing that people like Dr. Walter think undermines my argument is actually a central support to that argument. The fact that the Law of Moses was not even around for Abraham, means that he must have been justified by something other than the works of the Law of Moses.

Now to anticipate another objection. I suspect that my worthy opponents will says that it is statement of the obvious for Paul to tell his readers that Abraham was not justified by the works of the Law of Moses since that Law was not even around when Abraham lived. So, the objector would continue, Paul must be referring to good works here since it is too obvious to say that Abraham was not justified by doing the works of a law that only came in 400 years after Abraham.

Well, I can understand that. But look at what Paul says about circumcision - he points out that Abraham received his promises before he was circumcized. The careful Jewish reader would know this, too. So when Paul tells his readers that Abraham was justified before being circumcised, this is also a "statement of the obvious".

So the fact that it is "obvious" that Abraham lived before the Law of Moses is not a good reason to believe that Paul is not saying, in verse 2, that Abraham was not justified by doing the works of the Law of Moses. The circumcision argument shows that Paul is indeed wanting to emphasize something that his Jewish readers would otherwise know - that Abraham was justified both before he was circumcised as well as before the Law of Moses was given.

And, of course, these are precisely things that Paul needs to say to support a key element of his argument in Romans 4 - that God's family is not limited to Jews.

To see Romans 4 as simply a treatise on justification by faith is to take a scalpel and carve out numerous statements that show that Paul is also centrally concerned with undermining a belief that justification is for Jews to the exclusion of Gentiles.

And one way to so this, of course, is to boldly assert that, obvious as this may be, Abraham was not justified by doing the works of an ethnic charter limited to Jews and Jews only - the Law of Moses.

 

[Jedi Knight]

Do you keep the 10 commandment to keep the Holp Spirits seal? Believers are seal unto the day of redemption.....not if we keep the seal intact. The thief on the cross was saved without works. Jesus told martha whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Eternal life is a gift of God....not a maintenance program. On a scale of one to ten what is a passing score to enter the kingdom? Flesh and blood CANNOT enter the Kingdom of God and you MUST be born again. Saying you can make it to Heaven if you keep the 10 commandments is like saying you can go into outer space in a raincoat! You need something far,FAR different to stand before a PERFECT and Holy God. You need to be perfect to be in Gods present.....so what are you gonna do? The ONLY solution is to have Christ's PERFECT RIGHTEOUNESSS apply to your account to be accepted. Remember Jesus told them "which of you can accuse me of sin?". They could not because He is PERFECT and you have to be perfect too. Can you say "I have no sin"? Only those who are IN CHRIST can stand....not in their own righteouness,but in the righteouness of Christ. Eather your IN Adam "Flesh",or your IN Christ "the Spirit"......no middle ground.

 

[Andre]

Do you keep the 10 commandment to keep the Holp Spirits seal? Believers are seal unto the day of redemption.....not if we keep the seal intact. The thief on the cross was saved without works.

How do you know this? The fact that he died shortly after his entry into faith does not mean that he will not, in fact, "pass" the Romans 2 judgement:

God "will give to each person according to what he has done."[a] 7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.

We are not told what the "pass mark" is. So how do you know that the "good thief" did not meet it?

Eternal life is a gift of God....not a maintenance program.

How, then, do you explain this from Paul:

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,

How can this text not be read as an instruction to let the Spirit do its work (with the obvious implication that it is possible to "fall away" and be lost)?

On a scale of one to ten what is a passing score to enter the kingdom?

I have no idea. But this does not mean that Paul does not mean what he writes in Romans 2 and Romans 8 - that the granting of eternal life is connected to how we live. In any event, it is the Spirit's task to ensure that, whatever the "passing score" is, that we will indeed meet it.

 

[Jedi Knight]

How do you know this? The fact that he died shortly after his entry into faith does not mean that he will not, in fact, "pass" the Romans 2 judgement:

You don't know if the thief who asked Jesus to "remember me when you come into your Kingdom" passed? What was Jesus reply? "Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise. "PASSED!! Thats why Jesus said "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has PASSED from death into life."

 

[Andre]

You don't know if the thief who asked Jesus to "remember me when you come into your Kingdom." passed ?

I never suggested that the thief did not "pass". I agree it is clear that he did. I was asking you how you knew that the thief did not "pass" in virtue of "good works"?

And I agree with the rest of your post with the qualification that Paul means what he writes in Romans 2 and 8 - ultimate justification is based on good works.

However, it is by faith alone that we are given the Holy Spirit, and it is the Spirit that generates the saving works (Romans 8).

 

[Jedi Knight]

I was asking you how you knew that the thief did not "pass" in virtue of "good works"?

Do you remember what Jesus used as a passed illustration? John 3:14-15 "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life". What did the Israelites DO to escape the poison of the fiery serpents? The were to believe "LOOK" at the snake on the pole and was healed. The ones who didn't believe "look" died. Jesus only can take away the sin and give the free gift of eternal life.......faith alone "LOOK".

 

[Dr. Walter]

Romans 2:6-10 is the judgement of God under the law of God according to the standards of the law.

Thank God we are not "under the law" (Rom. 6:14) but "under grace" and therefore "shall not come into condemnation [judgment] - Jn. 5:24

However, all who do come "under the law" for judgement (Rom. 2:6-10) will be judged according to the standards set forth by Paul here. Those who measure up to the Law's standards of righteousnesss will be granted eternal life and those who do not measure up to the Law's standard will be condemned by the Law.

Paul is merely setting forth the "just" standards under the law in Rom. 2:6-10 and there is "no flesh" that will be justified by that standard (Rom. 3:19-21).

 

[Andre]

Romans 2:6-10 is the judgement of God under the law of God according to the standards of the law.

Thank God we are not "under the law" (Rom. 6:14) but "under grace" and therefore "shall not come into condemnation [judgment] - Jn. 5:24

However, all who do come "under the law" for judgement (Rom. 2:6-10) will be judged according to the standards set forth by Paul here. Those who measure up to the Law's standards of righteousnesss will be granted eternal life and those who do not measure up to the Law's standard will be condemned by the Law.

Paul is merely setting forth the "just" standards under the law in Rom. 2:6-10 and there is "no flesh" that will be justified by that standard (Rom. 3:19-21).

There are a number of problems with this line of reasoning.

First, no competent writer would write Romans 2:6-10 the way it is written if he were merely articulating a standard that only would be applied if "another route" to justification were not provided - namely grace.

You appear to be arguing that, in Romans 2:6-10, Paul is describing a hypothetical scenario - that he is writing of a standard of judgement that is, in fact, not going to be applied since God has provided a differnet "path" namely grace.

The problem is that there is no evidence for this at all. Nowhere does Paul tell us, directly or indirectly, that the Romans 2 judgement is not going to be applied. It would be decidedly odd for a writer to tell a story of a coming judgement and expect us to see it as only "hypothetical" unless there is some clear reason to see it as purely hypothetical.

Romans 3:19-21 does not give us a reason to see Romans 2:6-10 as being not to taken as a description of a real judgement at which eternal life will be awarded to those who persist in "doing good". All Romans 3:19-21 tells us is that no one can be justified by doing the Law of Moses. And that does not contradict what Paul is saying in 2:6-7, where "doing good" in the general sense, not doing the Law of Moses, is set forth as the basis for the awarding of eternal life.

What about the Romans 6 text you provided - "we are not under law". Again, this a reference to the Law of Moses, which Paul believes has come to an end. So when he tells his readers this:

For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace

....he is not telling them that they will not be judged on their good works, as per Romans 2:6-7, but rather that the Law of Moses no longer applies to anyone.

Again, it is really a tall order to beleive that Paul would write a detailed account of a coming judgement with eternal life awarded based on good works, as he does in Romans 2, if he actually believes such a judgement will never take place.

I suggest that people are so dedicated to the classic reformation understanding of "justification by faith" that they do not see how far-fetched a proposal it is to suggest that Paul is describing an event that is only hypothetical in Romans 2.

Are you in the habit of making declarations of what is only hypothetically true? I certainly am not. And I suggest that neither is Paul.

 

[Jedi Knight]

Andre,Do you believe that Eternal Life is given at the end only?

 

[Dr. Walter]

Your arguments stem from a fundemental misunderstanding and distortion of the immediate context. This context is placed right in the middle of ONE KIND OF HUMAN BEING - the kind that believes they are a cut above the rest of mankind (vv. 1-5; 17-29) and that they will escape judgment under law by their good works. This is explicitly stated in Romans 2:3 and necessarily implied in Romans 2:17-24. Thus preceding and following Romans 2:6-10 we have ONE KIND OF HUMAN BEING, a LOST self-righteous person who believes they will be justified by the law of God. It is this premise that Paul deals with by clearly outlining what justifies and what condemns a person under Law.

This is no hypothetical scenario, this is reality for all lost people who come to God by "good works" to be judged by the Law.

The JUSTICE of the Law is laid out in Romans 2:6-10 for all who come to God through the Law keeping. The Law will approve eternal life for all whose works are RIGHTEOUS rather than hypocritical (vv. 1-5; 17-24). The law will condemn all whose works come short of its righteous standand and there are no lost persons whose works are RIGHTEOUS by the law's standards (Rom. 3:9-21).

The just standard and consequences are spelled out in Romans 2:6-10 while the verdict for all who come to God by their works is spelled out in Romans 3:9-21.

Those in Christ are not UNDER LAW as a standard for judgement but under Grace (Rom. 6:14). Denying Mosaic Law is denying all law as all righteous law stems from the Mosaic law. This is why Jesus said the justified person "SHALL NOT COME into condemnation" (lit. judgment) - Jn. 5:24 as we are "dead to the law" as a standard of judgement through the body of Christ - meaning, Christ died paying the penalty in full.

Moreover, your position is redundant as you are denying that the JUSTIFIED are really JUSTIFIED. Your JUSTIFICATION is no justification at all and can't be because the only justification yu really believe in is yet future and it makes no difference whether a person now is "in Christ" or outside of Christ according to your position because both have not been justified and will not be justified until judgement day. Hence, NO HUMAN BEING is really justified now according to your position. Your position repudicates Christ, repudiates grace, repudiates any actual redemption/justification presently and makes it of NO EFFECT because the believer as well as the unbeliever are justified by good works with or without Christ by your position.

Paul is addresssing YOUR KIND of Position in Romans 2:6-10! IF you (vv. 3, 17-24) think you can escape the judgement of God under law by your works, then you better HOW the Law judges works and what the Law requires to escape its condemnation and receive its blessings. The law will judge your works RIGHTEOUSLY and will disregard your PERSON and its verdict will be FAIR according to the light you have.

If you want to know who will escape judgement under law by their works then Romans 3:9-21 is Paul's verdict.

There are a number of problems with this line of reasoning.

First, no competent writer would write Romans 2:6-10 the way it is written if he were merely articulating a standard that only would be applied if "another route" to justification were not provided - namely grace.

You appear to be arguing that, in Romans 2:6-10, Paul is describing a hypothetical scenario - that he is writing of a standard of judgement that is, in fact, not going to be applied since God has provided a differnet "path" namely grace.

The problem is that there is no evidence for this at all. Nowhere does Paul tell us, directly or indirectly, that the Romans 2 judgement is not going to be applied. It would be decidedly odd for a writer to tell a story of a coming judgement and expect us to see it as only "hypothetical" unless there is some clear reason to see it as purely hypothetical.

Romans 3:19-21 does not give us a reason to see Romans 2:6-10 as being not to taken as a description of a real judgement at which eternal life will be awarded to those who persist in "doing good". All Romans 3:19-21 tells us is that no one can be justified by doing the Law of Moses. And that does not contradict what Paul is saying in 2:6-7, where "doing good" in the general sense, not doing the Law of Moses, is set forth as the basis for the awarding of eternal life.

What about the Romans 6 text you provided - "we are not under law". Again, this a reference to the Law of Moses, which Paul believes has come to an end. So when he tells his readers this:

For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace

....he is not telling them that they will not be judged on their good works, as per Romans 2:6-7, but rather that the Law of Moses no longer applies to anyone.

Again, it is really a tall order to beleive that Paul would write a detailed account of a coming judgement with eternal life awarded based on good works, as he does in Romans 2, if he actually believes such a judgement will never take place.

I suggest that people are so dedicated to the classic reformation understanding of "justification by faith" that they do not see how far-fetched a proposal it is to suggest that Paul is describing an event that is only hypothetical in Romans 2.

Are you in the habit of making declarations of what is only hypothetically true? I certainly am not. And I suggest that neither is Paul.

 

[Andre]

Your arguments stem from a fundemental misunderstanding and distortion of the immediate context. This context is placed right in the middle of ONE KIND OF HUMAN BEING - the kind that believes they are a cut above the rest of mankind (vv. 1-5; 17-29) and that they will escape judgment under law by their good works. This is explicitly stated in Romans 2:3 and necessarily implied in Romans 2:17-24. Thus preceding and following Romans 2:6-10 we have ONE KIND OF HUMAN BEING, a LOST self-righteous person who believes they will be justified by the law of God.

We have been down this road before. I agree that up to 2:6 we indeed have one kind of person. But this is hardly an argument that Paul does not mean what he says in 2:6-7 - that some will get eternal life based on good works.

As I have pointed before, it makes perfect sense, at the point in the argument where he is at the end of verse 5 to then basically say "look you lost, self-righteous person, there is a coming judgement by good works at which some will get life and some will get condemnation". And the clear implication is that the self-righteous person will get condemnation.

But that is hardly a reason to think that Paul does not mean what he says about people who do good getting eternal life at that same judgement.

Your context argument does not work precisely because the fact that some will get life (2:6-7) does not change the fact that the person he has been describing will get condemnation. So there is no contextual inconsistency at all.

And the fact that Paul then reverts to a treatment of the self-righteous person later in the chapter (verse 17-29) does not mean that what he just said (in verses 6-7) about people getting eternal life based on good works is not to be taken seriously.

Consider this analogy: A high school teacher is scolding some lazy students about how they are in danger of failing. He then says "there will be a future test at which some will pass and some will fail". And then he continues to scold the lazy students.

Does his focus on scolding the lazy students mean that he does not believe that some students will pass the exam? Of course not.

Same thing here - the fact that Paul is indeed addressing the self-righteous certainly does not mean that he does not mean what he writes about those who "persist in doing good" getting eternal life.

 

[Andre]

Andre,Do you believe that Eternal Life is given at the end only?

Its hard for me to answer this question as posed. I believe that at the moment a person puts faith in Jesus, their ultimate salvation is assured, except if they entirely renounce their faith later.

How does square with what Paul says in Romans 2 about how eternal life is awarded at a coming judgement?

Answer: The person who places faith in Jesus is given the Holy Spirit and the Spirit will ensure that the person does the good works needed to acquit that person at the end.

So its kind of both.

 

[Jedi Knight]

Its hard for me to answer this question as posed. I believe that at the moment a person puts faith in Jesus, their ultimate salvation is assured, except if they entirely renounce their faith later.

How does square with what Paul says in Romans 2 about how eternal life is awarded at a coming judgement?

Answer: The person who places faith in Jesus is given the Holy Spirit and the Spirit will ensure that the person does the good works needed to acquit that person at the end.

So its kind of both.

How long is Eternal Life? Jesus said I give them eternal Life and they shall never perish. Never is a pretty strong word....like absolute.

 

[Andre]

How long is Eternal Life? Jesus said I give them eternal Life and they shall never perish. Never is a pretty strong word....like absolute.

I think that we need to take the entire corpus of scripture when we interpret Jesus's statement. Paul says this:

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,

This is a clear statement of the possibility of the believer not achieving "life". So when Jesus promises eternal life, I suggest that He is, by implication, referring to someone who "perseveres" in the faith.

What do you think Paul means in this text from Romans 8?

 

[Dr. Walter]

Paul means exactly what he says. Justification UNDER LAW is according to works. The works are judged to be "good" according to the Law's standard of "Good" will obtain the JUST consequence - and works that are judged to be evil will obtain the JUST consequence.

This is exactly how judgement under law works. This is exactly how those in Romans 2:1-5 and those in Romans 2:17-24 are coming to God to be justified and they will come before God and will be judged by their works.

However, Romans 3:9-21 tells you how that judgement under law will conclude for ALL who come to God by their works.

Your analogy is faulty. There is no GENERIC student in this context. ALL students in the context have a common THINKING problem ("thinketh" - v. 3). They think they will escape judgement due to a BETTER THAN THOU basis based upon ONLY THEIR WORKS. Their faulty thinking concerns THEIR WORKS which they perceive to be BETTER than those in Romans 1:18-32. Their faulty thinking perceives themselves on a HIGHER LEVEL due to their BETTER works. Their thinking problem perceives of no other way to be justified before God but BY THEIR WORKS. In other words, these are people who believe THEIR WORKS MEET THE CRITERIA of what the law defines as "GOOD" enough to escape condemnation.

These people DON'T COME TO GOD through Christ's finishhed works but come to God THROUGH THEIR OWN WORKS. They will be judged by the standand for works - the law and the measurement of GOOD will be Christ as presented in the gospel (v. 16) not their OWN STANDARD of good.

We have been down this road before. I agree that up to 2:6 we indeed have one kind of person. But this is hardly an argument that Paul does not mean what he says in 2:6-7 - that some will get eternal life based on good works.

As I have pointed before, it makes perfect sense, at the point in the argument where he is at the end of verse 5 to then basically say "look you lost, self-righteous person, there is a coming judgement by good works at which some will get life and some will get condemnation". And the clear implication is that the self-righteous person will get condemnation.

But that is hardly a reason to think that Paul does not mean what he says about people who do good getting eternal life at that same judgement.

Your context argument does not work precisely because the fact that some will get life (2:6-7) does not change the fact that the person he has been describing will get condemnation. So there is no contextual inconsistency at all.

And the fact that Paul then reverts to a treatment of the self-righteous person later in the chapter (verse 17-29) does not mean that what he just said (in verses 6-7) about people getting eternal life based on good works is not to be taken seriously.

Consider this analogy: A high school teacher is scolding some lazy students about how they are in danger of failing. He then says "there will be a future test at which some will pass and some will fail". And then he continues to scold the lazy students.

Does his focus on scolding the lazy students mean that he does not believe that some students will pass the exam? Of course not.

Same thing here - the fact that Paul is indeed addressing the self-righteous certainly does not mean that he does not mean what he writes about those who "persist in doing good" getting eternal life.